Air-brake coupling.



No. 639,85l. Patented Dec. 26, 899.

F. W. HARPER. AIR BRAKE COUPLING. (Application filed- Feb. 25, 1899.)

( N o M o d e l INVIENTUFR.

ATTUHNEYS.

UNITED I STATES FFICE.

PATENT AIR-BRAKE COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming art of Letters Patent No. 639,851, dated December26, 1899. Application filed February 25, 1899- Serial No. 706,847- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. HARPER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Midlothian,in the county of Chesterfield and State ofVirginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Air-BrakeCouplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in air-brake couplings, andpertains to a coupling provided with a valve for the purpose which willbe fully described hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to provide a coupling having a valve withan external operating member which is engaged by the coacting couplingfor holding it open,but which will automatically close when the couplingparts owing to the separation of one car from the other, and to providemeans for locking open the valve of the coupling at the front end of thecars, so that when the coupling parts, by the breaking away of thetrain, air will be permitted to escape and the brakes applied forstopping that part of the train which has become separated from thefront portion of the train, whereby accidents will be prevented, in thatthe two parts of the train will not collide after being broken apart,nor will the rear part of the train coast down a hill should it becomeseparated from the front portion of the train.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal verticalsectional View of my coupling, showing it used in connection with theordinary coupling. Fig. 2 is a front plan View of my coupling, theinterior portionsbeing shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof my improved coupling, the valve and the rock-shaft to which it isattached being shown in dotted lines.

While I propose to use my coupling at both ends of the cars, in Fig. 1 Ishow my coupling in connection with the ordinary coupling A.

My invention pertains to a valve B, situated within the coupling 0, saidvalve being secured to or mounted upon a rock-shaft D, which passes, ashere shown, diagonally through the coupling at the lower edge there of.One end of this shaft D extends through the outer side of the coupling,and this end is provided with an operating member or crank-arm E,whereby the valve 13 can be opened or closed thereby. I

The outer side of the coupling is provided with a stop G and the crank Ewith a springcatch H, adapted to engage with opposite sides of the stopG in the manner and for a purpose which will now be described.

In the operation of my invention, Fig. 2 shows the valve-lock open bycarrying the spring-catch H below the stop G, so that the valve B cannotbe closed by the pressure of the air within the coupling. The couplingin this figure (Fig. 2) has the valve in the position in which it willbe locked when upon the coupling at the front end of the car, wherebywhen the train in front breaks away and the two parts A and 0 becomedetached the air will be permitted to escape through the opening closedby the valve B and the brake applied to the car carrying the coupling inFig. 2, and consequentlyto the cars in rear thereof.

In Fig. 3 the coupling is shown with the Valve in the position in whichit will be upon the coupling at the rear end of the car. It will benoted that in this position the crank E is above the stop G, so thatwhen the coupling parts the valve will automatically close to preventthe escape of air, and the engineer can then apply or release the braketo the cars attached to his engine the same as though no break in thetrain had occurred, while the brakes to the cars which have broken awaywill be applied, in that the coupling upon the front end of .the carswill have the valve B locked open, as shown in Fig. 2.

The under member 0 of the coupling is provided at its front edge withthe projecting flange I and at its rear edge with the projecting flangeJ, while the coacting or upper memher A of the coupler is provided withthe projecting flanges or members K and L, which interlock with theflanges I and J. The flange K will be situated over the free end E ofthe crank, and as the two members of a coupling are being lockedtogether the flange K will force the crank E downward to the positionshown in Fig. 3, thus locking the valve B open, so that it will not beaffected by the air therein so long as the two members of the couplingare united. When, however, the coupling becomes separated, the valve Bis allowed to automatically close, in that the upper member A beingremoved there is nothing to engage the crank E for locking the valve Bopen.

The members A and C are provided with the usual rubber gaskets a and bfor making an air-tight joint between them.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. An air brake coupling comprising a coupling having an air-passage, arock-shaft extending therethrough at one side of the passage andcarrying a laterally-projecting valve adapted to close said opening, oneend of the rock-shaft extending through the coupling and carrying alaterally-extending crank or actuating member, substantially asdescribed.

2. An air brake coupling comprising a coupling having an air-passage, arock-shaft extending therethrough at one side of the passage andcarrying a laterally-projecting valve adapted to close said opening, oneend of the rock-shaft extending through the coupling, a lug upon thecasing and a crank-arm attached to the rock-shaft and carrying aspring-catch to engage the said lug, substantially as described.

3. An air-brake coupling comprising two interlocking coupling members,one member having a swinging valve normally held closed by theair-pressure and held open when coupled by the interlocking part of theother coupling member, substantially as described.

4. An air-brake coupling comprising a coupling member having anair-passage, a swinging valve having its pivot extending through thecoupling and provided with a crank-arm at its outer end, said valvebeing normally held closed by the air-pressure, and an interlockingmember adapted to engage said arm and hold the valve open, substantiallyas described.

5. An air -brake coupling comprising a coupling member having anair-passage, a rock-shaft extending diagonally through the air-passageand carrying a swinging valve, said rock-shaft having one of its endsextending through the coupling and provided with an externaloperating-crank in the path of the interlocking partof the othercoupling and held open thereby against the air-pressure, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

. FRANK WV. HARPER. Witnesses:

J. T. HARPER, WM. CHAPMAN.

